20 Fun Facts about Stingrays (Fun Fact File: Fierce Fish!)

Niver, Heather Moore

ISBN 10: 1433969912 ISBN 13: 9781433969911

Publisher: Gareth Stevens Publishing, 2012

Synopsis

Stingray's glide gracefully through the water; they seem like alien creatures with their wide, flat bodies and slender tails. They drift to the sea floor and use their flat bodies to stir up the sand and bury themselves. Many stingrays use their deadly stingers to catch prey. Some have powerful mouths for crushing shells. Astonishing photographs allow readers to see these fierce fish in their natural habitat.

About this title

Reviews

Gr 2-5-With graphics designed to look like file folders, these volumes present fascinating fish facts in concise but detailed chapters that include physical descriptions, diets, habitats, and life cycles. Colorful, action-filled photos and captions that resemble "Post-It" notes clarify and add additional information, as do charts listing data about the featured fish or their "friends." Maps would have been helpful (what third grader knows where the Indo-Pacific is?) and sometimes the texts lack clarity. For example, in Lionfish, readers learn first that the creature, "isn't a fast swimmer," but a later page says, "Lionfish are very quick." Nonetheless, the series is well suited for reports, and its fearsome covers and chatty tone gives it lots of browser appeal.α(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

The Fun Fact File: Fierce Fish! series may be hard to say but it’s easy to read and pitched just right for reluctant readers. Essentially, it’s a randomly arranged, numbered list beefed up with additional facts, an arrangement ideal for browsers. The one-fact-per-page formula keeps things brisk—a table breaking down the various names, locations, and sizes of each fish serves as an intermission—and every spread is enlivened by underwater photos and fun-fact captions. The boneless Stingrays can grow up to 16.5 feet long and have been flapping through water for a good 95 million years now. Basic but snappy, these are good pit stops for first-time report writers. Grades 2-4. --Daniel Kraus

Edition details

• Publisher: Gareth Stevens Publishing
• Publication date: 2012
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1433969912
• ISBN 13: 9781433969911
• Binding: Library Binding
• Number of pages: 32